Russians In Iran

Russians in Iran seeks to challenge the traditional narrative regarding Russian involvement Iran and to show that whilst Russia's historical involvement in Iran is longstanding it is nonetheless much misunderstood. Russia's influence in Iran between 1800 and the middle of the twentieth century is not simply a story of inexorable intrusion and domination: rather, it is a complex and interactive process of mostly indirect control and constructive engagement. Drawing on fresh archival material, the contributors provide a window into the power and influence wielded in Iran not just by the Russian government through it traditional representatives but by Russian nationals operating in Iran in a variety of capacities, including individuals, bankers, and entrepreneurs. Russians in Iran reveals the multifaceted role that Russians have played in Iranian history and provides an original and important contribution to the history and international relations of Iran, Russia and the Middle East.

Russians in Iran seeks to challenge the traditional narrative regarding Russian involvement Iran and to show that whilst Russia's historical involvement in Iran is longstanding it is nonetheless much misunderstood. Russia's influence in Iran between 1800 and the middle of the twentieth century is not simply a story of inexorable intrusion and domination: rather, it is a complex and interactive process of mostly indirect control and constructive engagement. Drawing on fresh archival material, the contributors provide a window into the power and influence wielded in Iran not just by the Russian government through it traditional representatives but by Russian nationals operating in Iran in a variety of capacities, including individuals, bankers, and entrepreneurs. Russians in Iran reveals the multifaceted role that Russians have played in Iranian history and provides an original and important contribution to the history and international relations of Iran, Russia and the Middle East.

This collection will explore the myriad encounters which have taken place between Iranians and Russian in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It will include some discussion of diplomacy and foreign policy but a central objective of the collection will be to widen the scholarly perspective to incorporate an understanding of other types of encounter, whether political, economic, social, cultural, or intellectual, and both friendly and hostile, especially as these developed beyond the official and elite levels. In particular it will attempt to understand the complexities of the impact on Iran of the Russian presence on its northern borders: the very expansion of Tsarist empire during the nineteenth century threatening Iran's independence yet bringing ideas of social-democracy to its doorstep, the Soviet Union in the twentieth century similarly contradictory in its effect, sustaining radical Iranian politics while advancing its own strategic interests.

Russia and Iran, 1780–1828 was first published in 1980. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. Modern Russo-Iranian relations date from the late eighteenth century, when after several centuries of commercial and diplomatic contact, the two nations entered a period of extended warfare for possession of the Caucasian borderlands, disputed territory that eventually fell to Russia. In her history of that struggle, Muriel Atkin reasseses the motives of major figures on both sides and views the Iranians with more sympathy than Western and Russian historians have usually accorded them. Russia embarked on her course in the Caucasus for reasons connected with defense or trade, and with a longterm imperial goal based on uncritical acceptance of prevailing European doctrines of empire. The new dynasty in Iran, on the other hand, had to fend off Russian attack and secure the borderlands in order to justify its basic claim to power. In the end, the wars brought major disruption to the already unstable borderlands, and left Iran with a discredited government and a controversy over reforms and relations with the West that would continue to cause turmoil in subsequent generations.

This book presents a comprehensive, systematic analysis of Russia– Iran relations in the period following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It discusses the key areas – such as trade, arms sales, nuclear developments, and potential areas of friction in the Caspian Sea – where co-operation is possible; charts different phases of increasing and declining co-operation; and relates these changes to security considerations and domestic factors in both countries. Throughout, the book argues that the potential for co-operation between the two countries is much greater than people realize, and it concludes by assessing how Russia–Iran relations are likely to develop in future.

Rather than a centralized state, Iran in the nineteenth century was a delicate balance between tribal groups, urban merchant communities, religious elites, and an autocratic monarchy. While Russia gained an increasingly dominant political role in Iran over the course of this century, Russian influence was often challenged by banditry on the roads, riots in the cities, and the seeming arbitrariness of the Shah. Iran and Russian Imperialism develops a comprehensive picture of Russia’s historical entanglements with one of its most important neighbours in Asia. It recounts how the Russian Empire strived to gain political influence at the Persian court, promote Russian trade, and secure the enormous southern borders of the empire. Using hitherto often neglected documents from archives in Russia and Georgia and reading them against the grain, this book reveals the complex reactions of different groups in Iranian society to Russian imperialism. As it turns out, the Iranians were, in the words of the Russian orientalist Konstantin Smirnov, "ideal anarchists," whose resistance to imperial domination, as well as to centralized state institutions more generally, impacted developments in the region in the century to come. Iran’s troubled relationship with the wider world continues to be a topic of considerable interest to historians, yet little focus has been given to Russia’s historical connections to Iran. This book thus represents a valuable contribution to Iranian and Russian History, as well as International Relations.